dinsdag 8 juli 2014

–
GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON: The Fall
of Godling part 3: All-New, All-Different!

The mountains of Tibet, the castle of The Dark Monk
and his followers. The Dark Monk stands before his men, dressed in his black
robe, silver bracelets and a traditional Tibetan hat.

“We are
sorry, it seems we were unsuccessful in killing Godling,” one of the monks
says, bowing before his master.

“Cretin! How
dare you return here then?” Dark Monk yells.

“The hero
disappeared in a flash of light. We had him on his knees though, I’m sure he is
badly hurt.”

“That is not
enough. Pay for you failure!” Dark Monk says and fires a blast of purple light
from his hand, disintegrating the monk. “Let that be a lesson for the rest of
you. I do not accept failure. Find the Godling and destroy him. THAT is your
order.”

*

Maybe this isn’t so bad after all, Quentin Alexander
says, walking on-campus of Troy University. I haven’t been able to provide the
quality of colleges I want to with the lack of preparation caused by my
adventures as Godling. Without superpowers I have a lot more to time to spend
on my real work.

He runs into
Monica. “Quentin, good to see you. You look relaxed.”

“I guess I
feel relaxed.”

“I heard you
broke up with Janson. Too bad, I liked her for you.”

“It just
wouldn’t work out. But how did you find out?”

“She called
me. We’ve become pretty good friends through that whole affair with Wade and
that armor of his (a few issues ago).”

“Good to know
something good came out of that whole mess,” I told her. “How are you and Wade
doing now?”

“I’m afraid I
saw no other possibility then to break up with him. At least for a while. Even
though I know in my head he acted so aggressively towards me because he was
under the control of that stupid helmet I just can’t feel… at ease with him
like I used to. It might just take time, I’m not sure.”

“So we’re
both single now,” Quentin says. Did I sound too happy about that, he wonders.

“I guess.
That’s not too bad. I always used to enjoy watching bad sci-fi movies with you,
or check out new restaurants. We’ll have a bit more time to hang out together
again.”

“Yeah,
that’s not too bad indeed. In fact, there’s a new Thai place downtown we could
check out tonight.”

“You got
yourself a deal,” Monica says and shakes Quentin’s hand.

This might
have been the best time to lose my powers, that’s for sure. Time to make
something of Quentin Alexander’s life instead of Godling’s, the professor
thinks.

*

Superstar Mark Brant wakes up in his penthouse.
Bottles of champagne litter the room. There’s a good looking lady in her
underwear sitting on his bed. She’s just putting on the rest of her clothes.

“Hey baby,
you leaving?” he asks.

“You were
pretty direct to me when you told me you didn’t want me to stay for breakfast.”

“Yeah, but I
can autograph your behind if you want me to,” Mark says.

“That won’t
be necessary,” the lady says. “Thanks for the experience.”

Mark watches
her put on a dress and walk out the door.

“Man, I
don’t even remember us doing anything. Maybe I should cut down on the booze a
bit after all,” Mark says to himself.

“Wine,
women… Bachuss would get along with you just fine,” a voice says.

Mark jumps
out of bed. “Who the…”

Hermes,
Apollo and Ares stand in the room before him. “Just us gods,” Hermes says. “No
reason for alarm.”

“Gods you
say? Man, I really really need to cut down on the booze… I’m getting delirious.”

“Look into
the pool of blood at your reflection. Like what you see?” Zeus asks.

Mark looks
into the pool. What he sees is muscular warrior dressed just like Godling was,
but where Godling’s hair was black his is blonde and he is wearing a beard.
Also, where Godling’s clothes were blue with a gold trim Mark’s outfit is red
with a silver trim.

“I have to
admit I look pretty damn spectacular.”

“Good,” says
Zeus. “We will give you some training now and then you can go back to your
world as our champion.”

“This is all
going way too fast,” Mark says. “How many times do I need to tell you I don’t
want to be a superhero.”

“You know
Perseus?” Zeus asks.

“I do, saw
him in a movie. Guy can fly right?” Mark says.

“He can.
Think about his powers,” Zeus says.

As he does
suddenly Mark takes to the sky. “I can fly! I can fly! That feels great!” He
lands again.

“Now think of
Heracles, you surely know of him,” Zeus says. “Then hit that large boulder.”

woensdag 11 juni 2014

A humanoid figure with grey tentacles instead of arms
and legs swings from rooftop to rooftop. He is clad in purple spandex and a
purple mask that covers his entire face. The mask has bulbous yellow lenses and
his mask makes his head look bigger, like that of an octopus. He wears a very
broad black belt with an emblem of a yellow octopus.

He thinks, Wow! I never get tired of swinging and
leaping around as Octo-Boy… Well, of course I’ve been only doing that for a few
weeks now.

He lands on
top of an old warehouse. So, this must be
where the bad guys are hiding. An old abandoned warehouse. Just like in the
comic books.

He looks
through a skylight. In the building are six rough looking men, unpacking large
crates. The crates contain futuristic looking weapons.

Time to spring into action, Octo-Boy
thinks. He smashes the skylight with his tentacles and jumps inside.

“What?!” one
of the thugs cries out, surprised.

“Who is that
costumed freak?” another one asks.

“The name’s
Octo-Boy, dear baddies!” the hero says and lands on top of the thug that cried
out. He wraps his tentacles around the thug’s head until he passes out.

A thug fires
his gun at Octo-Boy as he jumps off the other thug. The thug misses, the bolt
that is fired by the gun disintegrating a stack of crates.

“Whoa, glad
I wasn’t hit by that one,” Octo-Boy says and uses his tentacles to leap up
again, flying through the air until he crashed down on the thug that fired the
gun. Another thug already aims his gun at the hero, but a quick slap with a
tentacle disarms him. The hero turns towards the thug and slaps him in the face
with two tentacles, knocking him out.

That leaves
three thugs who all have their guns aimed at Octo-Boy now. He releases a big
mist of ink from a gland in his neck, blinding them. Quickly he dispatches the
bad guys with a few slaps of his tentacles. As the ink dissipates Octo-Boy
stands victorious on a top of unconscious bad guys.

“What is
this?” a voice says. The voice comes from a man with the lower body of a snake,wearing armor and carrying a staff.

“Who
are you? You look even weirder than me!” Octo-Boy says.

“I am
Cecrops. Who are you?”

“Octo-Boy, hero of Bay City.”

“And
to think I decided to flee New Troy so I wouldn’t be bothered by superpowered
meddlers,” Cecrops says, of course referring to his archenemy Godling.

“Well,
you’re out of luck, snakeskin!”

“I
will not be discouraged by another superfool again!” Cecrops says and fires a
bolt of energy from his staff. Octo-Boy leaps away just in time, the bolt
misses.

Cecrops tries to slap Octo-Boy with his tail, the hero blocks with a
tentacle, hitting the bad guy with another. Cecrops staggers backwards.

“So
you’re the leader of these thugs? Well, your arms-dealing days are over!”
Octo-Boy says, swinging his tentacles at the villain once again.

*

Five hours earlier…

Matt Tatum arrives home, his letter jacket
slung over his shoulder. He is a blond, good-looking and muscular 15 year old
kid.

“Hi
mom,” he says.

In
the kitchen a tall woman with short blond hair and a powersuit is busy cutting
some vegatables. “Hi, Matt. How was football practice?”

“Went
pretty well, mom. The coach rode us pretty hard though.”

Matt’s mom gives him a peck on the cheek. “Only to improve you, I’m
sure.”

“Of
course. How was your day?”

“Pretty busy. There’s some rumors about a big load of futuristic weapons
being sold to gangs in the city. We’ve got a lot of people working on it.”

“Is
that FBI business?” Matt wonders.

“Together with the ATF we’re dealing with it. I do wish sometimes we
weren’t bound by so many laws. If we
could just get a few gang members to talk,” Matt’s mom says.

“They’re not talking?”

“Nope,
all keeping their mouths shut. Well, we’ll see what we can find out tomorrow.
For now, it’s time for dinner.”

And after that it’s time for Octo-Boy to
help his mom out, Matt thinks.

*

Now.

“These weapons will make me rich and I will not
let you keep me away from those riches!” Cecrops says and fires two futuristic
pistols at the attacking Octo-Boy.

The
hero manages to evade the shots and two tentacles slap Cecrops so hard the
villain is sent flying against a bunch of crates. The crates fall down, on top
of the villain. The crates break open, futuristic weapons spilling from them.

“DIE!!!” Cecrops yells as he manages to get from under the crates and
grabs a huge gun from the weapons now surrounding them.

Maybe
it wasn’t so smart to have him crash into a bunch of crates filled with big ass
guns, Octo-Boy wonders.

A
shockwave is shot from the huge gun. There’s no way to evade it, Octo-Boy is
hit and falls down. And how did I get
into this mess again, he thinks.

*

Two hours earlier, a dark alley in the worst
part of Bay City.

Octo-Boy has a knife and a baseball bat in his tentacles. He is standing
on top of a pile of four gang members.

“I
told you to drop your weapons,” he tells the gang members.

One
gang member is still standing. He is wearing a red bandana and gold teeth.
“Just don’t hit me man, I just got these teeth.”

Octo-Boy
throws the weapons away. “Talk and you get to keep the teeth. There’s talk
about high-tech weaponry being dealt. I want to know from where.”

*

Now.

Maybe it would have been better if I just left
this to the FBI and that gangstah didn’t know where the weapons were being
kept. Of course, I wouldn’t want mom to face this dangerous crazy, Octo-Boy
thinks as he slowly gets up.

“You
won’t be able to hit what you can’t see,” the hero says and sprays a large amount
of ink in the air.

“Damn
you! Where are you?” Cecrops says, firing blindly everywhere.

Suddenly Octo-Boy drops from the air, on top of Cecrops. He wraps his
tentacles around the villain’s neck and chokes him until Cecrops lights go out.

Octo-Boy stands victoriously next to the unconscious villain. Now to give my mom an anonymous call and get
the heck away from here. Good to know I’m still mommy’s little helper, he
thinks.

woensdag 21 mei 2014

GODLING
# 38: The Fall of Godling part 1: Not A
Fighter by J. Vandersteen

–
GODLING – THE ONE MAN PANTHEON: The Fall
of Godling part 1: Not A Fighter

“I think you should be a bit more lenient about
Quentin,” Aphrodite tells Zeus. She stands before his throne, Apollo, Hermes
and Ares are standing there as well.

“Really?
Take a look at the effects he had on the people’s belief of us. That Kevin
Sorbo TV-show did more for us. And that was ridiculous,” Ares says.

“But what
about his fight against those aliens? The way he saved the city from King
Winter or those guys from another dimension?” Aphrodite countered. “Or the
heroes he inspired like Safari, Dober-Girl, Bogatyr, etcetera?”

“That’s just
it. He inspired a lot of those so-called superheroes. And sure, more and more
people seem to follow in those footsteps. But how much focus has he given the
fact he owes all his powers to us?”

“Ares does
have a point. I don’t think that many people are aware he was in fact created
by us,” Hermes admits.

“Yes, maybe.
But he’s been busy saving the world, he’s not an actor or rock star appearing
on talk shows and their like,” Aphrodite says.

“Why do you
keep sticking up for him? Do you have a soft spot for this human?” Ares asks.

“He’s got a
very big and kind heart and is unlucky in love. Yes, I have soft spot for him,”
Aphrodite confesses. “And I think that this heart still makes him the best
choice for our prophet.”

“He’s not
the most talented fighter though,” Ares says. “I guess that’s another reason
you like him so much… He’s a lover, not a fighter.”

Hermes
smiles. “I actually don’t think he does much loving…”

***

Luigi’s, a popular Italian restaurant in New Troy.
Professor Quentin Alexander and Janson are eating. Quentin is eating pasta,
Janson a pizza. Janson is drinkin wine, Quentin a Coke.

“What I
wanted to talk about… We’ve been seeing each other for a few months now…”
Quentin says after a bite of pasta. “And I really like you…”

Oh dear, where’s he going with this? Is he
going to ask me for some more commitment? Janson thinks. I’m not ready for that. Not after all the
doubts that have been sown. I really think he’s more into Monica and I’m just
sloppy seconds. That doesn’t feel right…

“The thing
is… It’s been nice but not really too serious yet… And I think….,” Quentin
continues, thinking, I just have to tell
her we have to break up. It’s not fair to be with here when my feelings may be
influenced by my future self. It just might not be the true, real love I’m
after…

“Stop! Before you go any further, I have to
tell you something,” Janson says, holding up a hand. “I think we should take a
break. You’re a really nice guy, but this isn’t working out. I’m not sure it’s
because we don’t match. It’s more that I really think you’re not into me
enough. I think you need to face your crush on Monica before you can really be
in a relationship with someone else.”

“Wha-a-at?”
is all Quentin can say.

“You seem to
be denying it but everyone can see what you feel for her.”

“But… But she’s with Wade. I mean…”

“I know
she’s with Wade. But that doesn’t diminish the fact you have very strong
feelings for her. You need to get over those before you can really commit to
anyone wanting a serious relationship with you.”

“I-I’m not
sure I follow you,” Quentin says, thinking, I don’t believe this is happening…
Should I be relieved that I’m not the one having to break up now? Why don’t I
feel relieved? This is what I wanted, right?

“That’s it.
I said it. I’m sorry, Quentin, you’re a nice guy but this just isn’t working,”
Janson says with tears in her eyes. “I think I’d better go.” And off she walks,
leaving a befuddled Quentin.

“Err… Check
please!?” he says to the passing waiter.

***

The mountains of Tibet… Hidden by magical
anti-surveillance spells stands an impressive looking castle that seems to be a
strange combination of old-fashioned building techniques and high-tech
technology.

Inside, a
dozen black-clad monks bow before a tall man, wearing a black robe, silver
bracelets and a traditional Tibetan hat. He has a Fu Manchu moustache and a
goatee. He wears a mask with red goggles.

“Dark Monk,
Master! Why have you asked for us?” one of the monks asks.

The Dark
Monk speaks, “My followers, the time has come. The planets have finally aligned
in the correct manner to start our conquest of Earth.”

“Finally,
how wonderful. What can we do to server you?” the monk asks.

“We start
our conquest in New Troy. The stars say we need to defeat the hero known as Godling
first if we are to have any success.”

“We know of
this hero. He is a powerful man. How will we defeat him?”

“He will be
no match against your magic. Worry not. Soon he will lie defeated at our feet.”

*

“Your arguments have been lacking,” Zeus tells
Aphrodite. “My opinion is clear now. Professor Quentin Alexander was not the
right choice to be our prophet.”

“I’m telling
you, you are wrong about that,” Aphrodite insists.

Zeus holds
up a commanding hand. “I still make the decisions here.”

Aphrodite
lowers her eyes. “Of course.”

“So, what do
we do now?” asks Hermes.

“We take
away his powers, of course,” Zeus says. “And then, we find us a new prophet…”

*

Quentin walks out of the restaurant. Janson is already
gone.

“Man, what
just happened. I really didn’t see that one coming,” Quentin says to himself.
The moment he speaks those words six dark-clad monks appear in the middle of
the street.

One of them,
apparently the leader says, “According to our divination spell we are very
close to the Godling now…”

Cars need to
break like crazy. Two of them smash into each other.

Who are these guys? What are they doing here
in the middle of the street? Where did they come from? Did they just teleport
in here something? Quentin wonders. They
sure seem to spell trouble.

The leader of
the monk says, “Godling? Godling? Show yourself now, or we kill until you
appear.”

With those
words he draws an ancient looking black dagger and points it a man walking by,
wearing an iPod, lost in thought. A black bolt of fire shoots from the dagger,
burning the man in a second, leaving only ashes.

This violent
move is reason for Quentin to lose all caution, he transforms into Godling,
oblivious of anyone who could witness the transformation and runs into the
monk.

“Vile being!
How could you do that?” he punches the monk with enough force to send him
flying into a car, smashing the window.

The monk
jumps of the car, unharmed. “I was just in time with my protection spell. Good
to see you, Godling. Let us make you taste your defeat.”

Godling
clenches his fist, face full of anger. “You haven’t caught me at my happiest
moment… And what you just did to that citizen is unacceptable. You’re going to
be in a world of hurt soon!”

NEXT
ISSUE: Godling loses his powers at the worst possible moment as he faces the
mysterious evil monks and… who will be the new Godling then?

“I don’t believe it… You actually call yourself Marble
Man?” Godling asks. He is standing in a jewellery store. The display windows
are smashed, jewellery strewn all over the floor. Facing him is a man in a red
skintight suit with black lining and a red facemask. Silver marbles cover his
suit.

“Why not? Marbles are my main weapons,” the man in red and black says.

“And with weapons like that you think it is a good idea to rob a jewellery
store in my hometown?”

“I’ll show you why!” Marble Man says and throws a handful of marbles at
Godling.

The hero catches them with the speed of Hermes. He opens his hands,
showing the marbles he caught. “That’s why?”

“Wait for it…” Marble Mans says. That’s when the marbles explode.
Godling is thrown against a wall by the impact, badly hurt.

Two cops have just entered the store. One of them is Officer Janson. She
runs towards Godling and kneels beside him. “Godling? Are you okay?”

“Just dandy,” the One Man Pantheon groans. “That should teach me not to
underestimate these costumed clowns.”

“You’re bleeding,” Janson says.

Godling moves his hands over his wounds. “Easily remedied.” The healing
powers of Aescilapus close the wounds left by the explosions.

The other cop is pointing his gun at Marble Man. “Freeze!”

“Right, I almost defeated Godling… No way you are able to stop me,”
Marble Man says and throws another handful of marbles. They hit the cop’s head
and he goes down, KO.

Marble Man laughs. “I didn’t even need to use the special marbles.”

“You caught me off guard, I admit… But now I’m going to take you down,”
Godling says, fists clenched. “Janson, will you take care of your partner?”

“Sure,” Janson says and sits next to the other cop, inspecting his
bruised head. “He seems to be okay, considering…”

Marble Man throws a handful of marbles. From the marbles thin lines of
rope appear, forming a net that drops over Godling. “I’ve got a lot more trick
marbles up my sleeves, hero.”

The Olympian Prophet tears the net apart with the strength of Heracles.
“Show me.”

“Sure,” Marble Man says and throws a marble that suddenly grows in size,
becoming the size of a wrecking ball.

“Sure thing,” she says, cuffs in hand. “By the way, did I thank you yet
for clearing up that whole business with sergeant Hudson? We were really happy
to find out his behaviour had been caused by that Japanase shapeshifter and he
didn’t actually become the creep he seemed to have become.”

“Just glad to help out, Officer,” Godling says. “Take care.” And he runs
out of the store, jumps up and flies away.

“That’s our hero,” Jansons says.

*

“Hello darling,” Wade Hudson says, standing in front of Monica at her
door.

“Err… Hi, Wade,” Monica says.

“Can I come in?”

“Err… Yeah… I guess… Sure….” Monica stammers.

They walk inside her apartment.

“How are you doing?” Wade asks.

“Fine. Fine I guess. You?”

“I’ve been better, I didn’t really enjoy my time being cooped up in the
interrogation room but I’m happy everything has been cleared up and we all know
what caused my erratic behaviour.”

“Yes. Right.”

Wade puts a hand on Monica’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Monica puts a defensive step back. “I’m sorry, Wade. I’m sorry. I know
you were under the influence of that damned helmet when you mistreated me, but
every time I see you I can’t help being… scared. I keep seeing that other side
of you.”

“Come on, Monica. Give me a break here. We’ve been together for years
now. How can you see my evil version when you’ve know the good version for so
long?”

“I gues… God, I’m so sorry, Wade… But I guess I have some doubts about
how far apart the two versions of you are.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Wade yells.

Monica holds up her hands defensively. “That’s just the kind of
behaviour I’m talking about. You’ve always been every bit the Alpha-male.
Aggressive. Combative. I’m not sure you’re the right person for me. I love
books, poetry, classical music. You like sports, action flicks and heavy metal.
Maybe we just don’t really belong together. Maybe that’s why we never moved in
together.”

“I thought you just liked your own space. But maybe that was just my
reason not to. But haven’t you heard that opposites attract.”

“Maybe that’s just not the case for me.” A tear appears in the corner of
Monica’s eye.

Wade moves forward, holding up a hand tenderly. “I just want to wipe
away those tears.”

“Please don’t. I think you’d better leave. I think we need to take a
break.”

“Huh. What? You think that weakling Quentin is a better match for you?
Is that it? I bet he came running to your rescue as soon as he heard what
happened between us. I bet he’ll come running to you the minute he hears about
this news as well.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re just friends. And he has a thing going on
with Janson.”

“Wonder how long that will last now. I’ve seen the way he looks at you,
Monica. And I’m sure that, if you’re honest you’ve seen it to.”

“Please. Leave. Please.”

“Sure. Gladly.” And Wade walks out the door, slamming it behind him.

*

“Well, looks like he isn’t that tough without his gadgets,” Janson says,
looking satisfied at Marble Man, walking inside the police station’s jail with
his hands cuffed behind his back.

“You and Godling managed to nab another costumed clown?” Darlene King
asks her.

“I just cuffed him. Godling gets the credit for taking him down. As
usual,” Janson says.

“Nice to get one without superpowers. With all the really dangerous
superpowered baddies getting locked up at Tartarus II our jail has been devoid
of guests for some time,” King says.

“Indeed. Well, have to hurry. I’ve got a date scheduled with Quentin in
half an hour.”

“Stuff still going right between the two of you? Opposites attract I
guess.”

“What do you mean?”

“Feisty little punkrock-loving girl like you with a stuffed and square
intellectual like Alexander…”

“Honestly? I have some doubts lately. I mean, I really love him with all
my heart but sometimes it feels like his heart belongs to somebody else.”

“Who hasn’t? I know Wade has. Hates the professor for it too. Monica
denies seeing it, but I think she’s lying. Either to all of us or herself.”

“Damn. So what would you do? I mean, I love him but should I stay in a
relationship with a guy who cannot really love me back fully?”

“You’re asking me for advice on relationships? You’ve got the wrong
person, sugar. If it’s about guns, forensics and martials arts I’m your girl.
Relationships I know nothing about. I still spent most my nights alone with a
copy of Guns & Ammo. But I guess if I had to give any advice I’d say… Just
talk your man.”

“Guess that’s good advice,” Janson says.

“What is?” a voice asks.

Janson and King turn their heads and are greeted by professor Quentin
Alexander.

“Oh, nothing…” Janson says. “Good to see you.”

“Likewise. I reserved a table at Luigi’s. You up for some Italian food?”
Quentin asks.

“Sure,” Janson says.

Hand in hand they walk away. King watches them go and thinks, Good luck, sugar.

*

Olympus. Zeus is sitting on his throne. Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes and
Ares stand before him.

“I asked you here to confer with me about the acomplishments of our
prophet, Quentin Alexander / Godling. Or the lack of those. We empowered him so
he could spread our gospel across Earth so people would believe in us once
more. He seems to have been quite unsuccessful, though.”

“He’s done some very heroic deeds though,” Aphrodite says.

“Oh, he has. And they fancy him quite the superhero. But how much has he
really told the world about the source of his powers? How much have his actions
strengthened the people of Earth’s belief in us.”

“They have been sorely lacking on that side indeed,” Ares says.

Zeus strokes his beard. “Maybe we have chosen the wrong person as our
prophet…”

NEXT
ISSUE: Quentin & Janson have an important talk as a new threat rises and
the Olympians voice their doubts…

“Go ahead and try,” Godling, The One Man Pantheon and Olympian Prophet
says.

The katana swooshes over Godling’s head who manages to duck just in
time, countering with a roundhouse kick in Ninjoid’s stomach as he channels the
fighting skills of Ares, God of War.

Unfortunately, the kicks lack the power to harm Ninjoid’s metal. The
robotic ninja chops Godling in the neck with his right hand. Godling falls
down.

Ninjoid lifts his sword above his head, ready to strike down at the One
Man Pantheon, lying on the ground.

“Kill him!” Professor Tsuraya yells.

“I don’t think so,” Godling says and gets up on his knees, chanelling
the strength of Heracles as he grips Ninjoid’s wrist, preventing the katana
from hitting him. With his free hand he punches Ninjoid so hard the dents the
robot’s face. He follows up with a big roundhouse punch that sends Ninjoid flying
through the lab.

Darlene King enters the
room, carrying a pizza box. “Until Godling tells us what’s been going on with
you and that armor of yours. I’m sorry,
but that really sounds like the most sensible thing to do.”

Wade sighs. “Maybe. But I swear I feel pretty calm already. Whatever
influence that armor had over me according to you guys it seems to be wearing
off.”

“That’s good news. Have some pizza now,” Darlene says and opens the box.

Wade picks up a slice of pizza from the box. “Will you join me?”

“I try to cut down on pizza. Goes right through my thighs.”

Wade smiles. “Your thighs seem to be just all right.”

On the other side of a one way window Monica and Janson are standing.

“Is he flirting with her?” Monica asks Janson.

“Don’t worry about it. That’s just Wade,” Janson tells Monica. “Goes
naturally with him. Guess he still fancies himself god’s gift to women. I’m
glad Quentin isn’t like that… Oh… Sorry! I didn’t mean anything by that. Wade
is generally a nice guy. And strong and handsome. Quite a catch. Oh, sorry… I
didn’t mean I fancy him or anything like that. I mean… Maybe I should just shut
up.”

“I know what you mean, don’t worry,” Monica says, a hand on Janson’s
shoulder. She thinks, I really know what
you mean…

*

Professor Tsuraya, spread-eagled on the floor is changing slowly from a
human being into a grey-skinned demonic looking thing with pointy ears, red
eyes and a tail but also a birdlike beak and wings.

“What the Hades?” Godling says.

“A shape-changer? According to my database a tengu!” Ninjoid says.

“Looks like we have our explanation of why your master would be involved
with villainous activities,” Godling says.

The tengu gets up. “Damn you for breaking my concentration and having me
show my true form!”

“And an ugly one it is,” Godling says. “Where is the real professor?”

“Dead of course! I broke his neck like a twig. And I will do the same to
you!” the tengu says.

“I’d like to see you try,” Godling says, arms crossed, posing in true
macho superhero style.

“I am programmed to avenge my master’s death,” Ninjoid says and slices
the air with this laser-katana as a demonstration.

“Come on then. I have a bone to pick with both of you. I don’t like it
when my plans get thwarted. Wade Hudson was the ideal testperson to see what
the professor’s technology could do to influence the minds of men. If that had
worked out I would’ve inserted that technology in computer, cell phones, and
all kinds of gadgets… Thus turning all humans in aggressive barbarians and soon
have the entire world at war.”

“Interesting plan. Too bad for you that’s not going to happen,” Godling
says and he sprints towards the tengu, fist raised.

The tengu flies up, showing birdlike claws at his feet, trying to dig
him into Godling’s flesh. He is quicker than Godling thought and indeed, the
claws strike his flesh, leaving bloody scratches.

“Aargh… That hurt,” Godling says, his hand on the worst scratch.

“Evil monster, you will be terminated!” Ninjoid says and slashes at the
tengu with his laser-katana. Some feathers come flying from the tengu’s wings.

The tengu produces a katana from his back and slashes back at Ninjoid.
The robot catches the katana on his wristbands and kicks the tengu in the
stomach. The tengu loses balance and falls on the floor.

He gets back on his feet, but Ninjoid immediately hits him with two
kicks and a punch in the beak. The tengu stumbles a few steps back, then
changes into a fiercesome looking tiger. He roars and jumps at Ninjoid. Ninjoid
falls flat on his back, the tiger on top of him, snarling.

Godling grabs the tiger by the tail and swings it above his head. In the
air the tiger changes back into the tengu-form, punching at Godling. Godling
lets go of the tengu and the demonic creature is sent flying through the lab,
crashing into a machine.

Godling throws a lightning bolt at the tengu, which turns out to be
enough to knock out the demon. He falls down and as soon as he hits the ground
turns to smoke. The smoke dissipates, traveling out of the lab through the
window.

“Looks like we defeated him,” Godling tells Ninjoid.

“Yes. So it seems. Sorry for battling you before,” Ninjoid says.

Godling shakes the robot’s hand. “No problem. This demon was pretty
convincing as a human I guess. Do you think we’ve seen the last of him?”

“I lack the data to confirm or deny. In case he returns I will be ready.
I still have to avenge my master.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry about his death.”

“I lack any real human feelings. No need to be sorry. I am programmed to
continue my work as Japan’s protector, even without my master. I will continue
that work to the best of my programmed abilities.”

“Good for you,” Godling says.

“First task is to find the body of my master.”

“Need help?”

“No need. I believe you have people waiting at home that need more
information about the armor and its origins.”

Over mij

I am a dutch writer, writing often in english. My special interests are crime movies and novels, rock music (I am a rock reporter for a dutch site) and comic books.
You can write me at jvdsteen@hotmail.com